How A Truck Driver’s Health Can Lead To Accidents

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Learn why the health of commercial truck drivers is so important

A commercial truck driver’s health is an important issue, because truck drivers who are impaired by a medical condition may still choose to operate their vehicles, and that impairment could lead to a truck wreck.

“The health of a commercial truck driver is becoming a bigger issue,” stated Truck Wreck Attorney Amy Witherite of Eberstein Witherite. “In most other occupations, a health issue typically won’t have a direct impact on other people in terms of their own well being. But with commercial truck drivers, adverse health does not necessarily mean that they take the time off to recuperate. And that decision could lead to an incident on the road such as a truck accident that impacts other motorists.”

Study Sheds Some Light On Truck Driver Health

Per an article in Science Daily, a recent study conducted by Utah-based researchers may offer some insight into how a truck driver’s health affects road safety: (1)

“Commercial truck drivers with three or more medical conditions double to quadruple their chance for being in a crash than healthier drivers,” according to the study.

And lead researcher, Matthew Thiese, an Assistant Professor at the Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, agreed with Witherite’s assessment about the potential for collateral damage.

“What this data is telling us,” Thiese stated, “is that with decreasing health comes increased crash risk, including crashes that truck drivers could prevent.”
The study analyzed the medical records of nearly 50,000 commercial drivers and found that more than a third of them suffered from at least one medical condition that “had previously been linked to poor driving performance, from heart disease, to low back pain, to diabetes.”

Researchers matched the drivers with at least one medical condition and one truck accident, and found that drivers who had a minimum of three conditions had a higher number of truck wrecks.

Drivers with at least three medical conditions and one truck wreck were placed in a high-risk category, because they were more likely to be involved in injury accidents.

The results may indicate that while one medical condition among truck drivers does not pose a risk of an accident, a combination of health conditions increases the likelihood of a truck wreck.

CDC Also Weighs In

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently conducted its own study regarding the overall health of long-haul truck drivers.

Per the CDC website, (2) the study analyzed data from 1,670 commercial truck drivers throughout the U.S., and found that a staggering 69 percent of them were obese, as defined by having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher.

Another 17 percent of the drivers were found to be morbidly obese, meaning that 86 percent of those commercial drivers were significantly overweight.

This is troubling, because only 30 percent of working Americans are obese, and seven percent are morbidly obese.

Per the article: “Obesity increases the chance for type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, heart disease, cancer, joint and back pain, and stroke. These health conditions can disqualify a driver from receiving their commercial driver’s license and essentially take away their livelihood.”

And per an article in Corporate Wellness Magazine, (3) half of all commercial truck drivers in the U.S. are obese, and the incidences of diabetes among them are 50 percent higher than in the general population.

More than 80 percent of truck drivers report having high-blood pressure, which is higher than the national average of 58 percent.

But the article also indicated that many of these medical conditions are preventable:

“…54 percent of commercial drivers smoke cigarettes and only 8 percent exercise. With the proper lifestyle choices, these drivers can reduce their disease risk and increase their life expectancy and quality of life.”

Although the FMCSA does require that prospective commercial truck drivers undergo and pass a thorough physical prior to employment, many conditions such as hypertension and obesity occur after a driver has already obtained a license.

Thankfully, some large carriers are beginning to understand the importance of wellness, and are instituting exercise and fitness programs as well as mental health education to improve the wellbeing of their drivers.

How We Keep Life Running

After you suffer injuries in a truck accident, the team at 1-800-Truck-Wreck is most concerned about restarting all the things in your life that come to a stop after this type of event.

This can be as simple as getting you to your doctor’s appointments via one of our drivers, or as complicated as ensuring that you have some money in your pocket while waiting for a settlement.

“I’ve been in a wreck,” stated Amy Witherite, “so I know how it can stop your life cold. Our firm restarts your life and gets you back on your feet, and we do it by treating you like a member of our own family.”